Our Illinois alternative dispute resolution lawyers were interested to see an appeals case clarifying that parties can only be compelled to binding arbitration if they have an explicit written contract. In Heider v. Knautz, No. 2-09-0808 (Ill. 2nd Dec.4, 2009), Arlie Heider sued Carl Knautz for injuries arising out of a car accident, including a knee injury. During a September hearing on admission of Heider’s Wisconsin-based attorney to Illinois courts, that attorney asked to suspend his request for admission because both parties had agreed to binding arbitration. The court stayed the case for six months pending the arbitration.

However, some months later, Knautz filed for a protective order preventing Heider from attending the arbitration, saying that during discovery, he had learned that Heider had reinjured his knee in a subsequent car accident, despite statements to the contrary. He wanted to delay the arbitration to conduct further discovery, and because he had changed attorneys, but the plaintiff’s attorney refused to reschedule. The court denied Knautz’s motion, so he filed a motion for judicial determination of whether he could revoke his agreement to arbitrate. In that motion, he said the Illinois Uniform Arbitration Act did not apply because he had signed no written agreement to binding arbitration. The trial court disagreed, finding at Heider’s urging that the Act applies because Knautz agreed on the record during the September hearing that such an agreement existed, and because that hearing was written down and entered into the record. Knautz filed an interlocutory appeal.

After dismissing what it saw as a meritless jurisdictional argument by Heider, the Second District Court of Appeal turned to the merits of Knautz’s appeal. Knautz argued that he should not be compelled to use binding arbitration because he did not sign a formal written agreement to do so. In considering this, the court considered the plain language of the Act, which refers to “a written agreement” or “a provision in a written contract.” This language makes it clear that the Act was intended only to apply to written agreements, the Second wrote. In support, it cited multiple out-of-state cases based on very similar language, as the Illinois Act was adopted from the Uniform Arbitration Act. Furthermore, the court said, there is nothing in the transcript of the September hearing to suggest that the parties intended to make a binding contract to arbitrate.

That order was based on an oral agreement, the court said, and the common law says oral agreements to arbitrate may be revoked anytime before an award is entered. The Act does not abrogate that rule, the court wrote, so Knautz is entitled to revoke his agreement to arbitrate. In fact, it wrote, if it were to decide otherwise, “parties who choose to enter into only an oral agreement could never obtain an order staying trial court proceedings pending arbitration, for fear that such an order would be viewed as a written agreement subjecting them to the Act and thereby destroying the purpose of entering into only an oral agreement for arbitration.” Thus, it reversed the order to arbitrate and remanded the case to trial court.

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The Jacksonville Business Journal Reports: “Overtime lawsuits thrive in Florida’s recession

The article states:

Like unemployment, home foreclosures and bankruptcies, the number of lawsuits brought by employees alleging unpaid wages is also on the rise.

Super Lawyers named Chicago and Oak Brook business trial attorney Peter Lubin a Super Lawyer for 2011 in the Categories of Class Action, Business Litigation and Consumer Rights Litigation. Lubin Austermuehle’s Oak Brook and Chicago business law attorneys have over a quarter of a century of experience in litigating complex class action, consumer rights and business and commercial litigation disputes. As a Chicago business law firm handle emergency business law suits involving injunctions, and TROS, covenant not to compete and trade secret lawsuits and many different kinds of business disputes involving shareholders, partnerships, closely held businesses and employee breaches of fiduciary duty. We also assist businesses and business owners who are victims of fraud.

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NPR Reports: “Stephen Breyer: The Court, The Cases And The Conflicts

This fascinating broadcast reveals how Justice Breyer makes decisions through a “living Constitution”. The broadcast states:

In Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer outlines his ideas about the Constitution and about the way the United States legal system works.

USA Today Reports:

Permanent mortgage modifications, which lower mortgage payments have been given to only about a third of the 1.3 million borrowers.

The class-action lawsuits allege that the trial payment plans are contracts that obligateBank of America and other servicers to abide by them and to give permanent loan modifications to homeowners who otherwise can’t pay their mortgages and would face foreclosure and loss of their homes.

Movie Studios Can Subpoena Internet Users’ Names, Data In File-Sharing Cases

AP reports:

A federal judge on Friday allowed the holder of a movie copyright to subpoena the names of people accused of illegally downloading and distributing a film over the Internet.

 

A Boom in ‘Overtime’ Lawsuits? Blame Technology

The Wall Street Journal reports:

It’s something the world is growing accustomed to, for better or worse: the ever-shrinking divide between work and leisure time. Ubiquitous Internet-access, Blackberrys, cell phones — all sort of technological advances — make it easier to take a “work from home” day when a child is sick. At the same time, the advances give employers the ability to make 24/7 demands, and expect 24/7 responses.

With the blurring of “on” and “off the clock,” lawsuits have arisen. Two recent suits, the WSJ reports on Monday, raise the following question: should hourly workers be paid for time spent responding to work calls or emails while off the clock?

Last month, three current and former employees sued T-Mobile USA Inc., claiming they were required to use company-issued smart phones to respond to work messages after hours without pay. In a March suit, a former CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. maintenance worker seeks pay for time spent after hours receiving and responding to messages on a work-issued cellphone.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act says employees must be paid for work performed off the clock, even if the work was voluntary. When the law was passed in 1938, “work” was easy to define for hourly employees. As the workplace changed, so did the rules for when workers should be paid.

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This video compilation of the Bill Gate’s deposition in the United State’s government anti-trust case against Microsoft provides good examples of how not to behave at a deposition.

Based in Chicago and Oak Brook, Ill., Lubin Austermuehle represents clients throughout Illinois and across the United States who are involved in serious or high-stakes business litigation. Our Illinois business lawyers work for both plaintiffs and defendants in cases of share holder freeze outs, closely held family business disputes, contract disputes, intellectual property infringement, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, indemnification and any other claims that could have a serious effect on the finances and future of the business. Our clients include companies in every field and businesses of all sizes, from small family businesses to major corporations. To learn more or speak to an experienced Chicago business litigation attorney, please contact us through our website or call 630-333-0333 today.

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